Aug 7, 2015

After seeing @Arch Dogg and his review that was so a--- that Kevin Gates could eat it, I decided to give an unbiased review of Dr. Dre's 3rd and final album, "Compton".

First off, if you are so attached to "The Chronic" and "2001" that your perception of Dre is clouded by nostalgia, exit this right now. This is not for you.

Now, this album's only similarity's with "2001" are how this is put together like a movie, similar to the albums predecessor and his protégé's work "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City". It has an intro, the sound of a movie logo similar to 20th Century Fox rolling, followed by a introduction about the streets of Dre's hometown, Compton. And it's heavy features, like actors, play an important role in each part they play in. Features range from Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, The Game, Jill Scott, Marsha Ambrosius, Anderson Paak, Candice Pillay, Ice Cube, Xzibit and his newest crew of potential stars, Jon Connor, Justus and King Mez.

The albums production ranges from classic Dre, from tracks like "Darkside/Gone" and the Trumpet closer "Talking To My Diary" to a slight influence of trap, like on "Deep Water" and "For The Love Of Money". Along with Dre, producers DJ Dahi, Cardiak, Bink, DJ Premier and newcomer DemBeatz from Compton helmed the project, dubbed his "grand finale".

But is it? I'm not going to delve into the history of his cancelled project, "Detox". but the anticipation and impatience for it led to Dre's 3rd album held to a higher standard then his first 2. He simply couldn't match the vision of what the hype was portraying. But it was a d--- good effort. Following the success of Kendrick's Lamar critical masterpiece "To p---- A Butterfly", Dre took notes from Its process and incorporated a new sound, almost completely abandoning his classic G-f--- sound. Sounds good on paper, but just like TPAB, it alienated alot of his fans, because people hate change, atleast when its not in comfortable territory.

All in all, the album had very few issues. The only main issue is that Eminem's verse on "Medicine Man" was sonically not pleasing to the ears and did not feel natural on the album, despite being a great verse. Also, the elephant in the room, how the h--- was MC Ren excluded from the project? I understand Nate Dogg because Warren G used up the rest of his posthumous work on his new LP. But MC Ren was just as important as Ice Cube. And "For The Love Of Money" was mediocre in my opinion. But Dre traded in the mediocre 2nd half of " 2001" and "The Chronic" Eazy-E roastfest, for a bright, introspective look on his career. Kendrick Lamar shines on his bars and steal's the show on "Deep Water", "Genocide" and "Darkside/Gone" like Eminem on the previous LP, and Snoop provides one of his best verses in years on the Jon Connor solo.

The real heart on the album comes from Dre however. You can tell he put his heart into it. You could feel every word he spoke despite the fact it was mainly ghostwritten. This album, despite being an exclusive to Apple, feels natural. Like it wasn't made for a profit.

In conclusion, this album is a future classic. Because of the production, mixing, the features, the cohesion and the sincerity of all the effort.

Final Verdict: 9.5/10
Best Track: Darkside/Gone & Talking To My Diary
Worst Track: For The Love Of Money

 

Aug 7, 2015

Good review. i would give the album the same probably around a 9.5 but felt the Eminem verse fit in, even though it was different it was essential to the album.